VOLUME 111 iSSUE 11
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM
April 23, 2015
EDITORIAL
The board should
have selected Miller
as president
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NEW PRESIDENT CHOSEN
Philip McCormick and
Matthew Kiewiet
Staff Writers
Rajen Vurdien was selected by the
Board of Trustees to be the next president
of PCC during a special board meeting on
Sunday afternoon.
Vurdien, who is the current president at
Fullerton College, will take over as presi¬
dent in June if he accepts the board’s offer.
'The board’s decision was unanimous,
according to a PCC press release that was
sent out after 4 p.m. on Monday.
“The board is pleased that our selection
process worked so quickly and so well and
thanks everyone involved for their hard
work,” board president Berlinda Brown
said in the release.
Former Interim Superintendent Robert
Miller, who was in the running for the
job, wall return to his previous position
as senior vice-president of business and
college services.
“The board also sincerely thanks every¬
one involved for their hard work,” Brown
said in the statement.
Miller said in an email that he was “dis¬
appointed” with the board’s
decision.
“I am disappointed but respect the deci¬
sion of the Board,” Miller said. “I love this
college and community' and will continue
to work in the best interest of students. I
look forward to working towards an or¬
derly transition to Dr. Vurdien’s leadership
and helping to assure his success.”
Student Trustee Marshall Lewis made
it clear that he was unhappy with the
outcome.
“The board was in the position to
PRESIDENT page 2 ►
Courtesy photo by Fullerton College
Rajen Vurdien.
An animated scene at PCC
Erica Hong/Courier
Izeilda Saldivar, interaction design, uses the Maya animation software for her project in Joseph Micallef's 3D
modeling and animation class on Friday. Story on page 6
Foundation raises more than $950,000
Kristen Luna
Managing Editor
With the Pasadena City' College
(PCC) Foundation raising $600,00
annually for scholarships, they have
successfully raised more than $950,000
this year in net proceeds for schol¬
arships awarded to PCC students
through its first scholarship fundraiser,
“PCC Celebrates Student Success.”
“This is the first community' fund¬
raising event the Foundation has held
for the purpose of raising funds spe¬
cifically for scholarships,” said Bobbi
Abram, executive director of the PCC
Foundation, in an email. “This event
has raised enough funds for over 100
annual scholarships to be awarded in
2016; and another 100 to be awarded
each year in perpetuity.”
The largest donations came from
the Wendy Munger and Leo Gumport
Endowment, Dorvin and Betty Leis
Charities, Inc., and KPCC. All have had
a long-standing relationship with PCC
but the most substantial donation came
from Dorvin and Betty Leis.
“The scholarship funds we are rais¬
ing will help make a college education
possible for the nearly 70 percent of
PCC’s 25,000 students who need finan¬
cial aid,” said John Gregory, president
of the PCC Foundation board of
directors, in an email.
During the last State of the Union
address, President Obama proposed
the “America’s College Promise” plan
that would provide free tuition for
community college students. The PCC
FOUNDATION page 2 ^
U Building’s
fate waits on
state funding
Keely Damara
Staff Writer
The furniture and other articles seen outside
of the U Building over the last few weeks is not
a sign of the imminent demolition of the build¬
ing that w'as deemed structurally unsound back
in 2012 but rather part of an effort to use it for
temporary storage of salvaged items from other
projects.
Reuben Smith, executive director of facilities
services, said that the school is currently storing
salvaged items from other renovation projects
across campus in the first floor of the U Building
until a salvage company can come pick them up.
In addition, the furniture still left in good condi¬
tion in the U Building is being sorted and put to
use.
“We’re trying to repurpose as much furniture
as we possibly can,” said Smith. “With the U
Building also being offline, rather than buying
furniture and remodeling offices, we’re actually
taking furniture from there and repurposing it to
save the district money.”
In September of last year, school officials be¬
lieved they’d be receiving funding from the state
that was originally expected to be distributed in
2017. That funding never arrived.
“We actually never received that money from
the state,” said Smith. “That was a mistake,
because when we submitted our final project
proposal and it was approved by the Chancellor’s
Office, the funding was not available to us until
2017.”
Joe Simoneschi, executive director of business
services at PCC, said that while he anticipates
funding in the future, first the state needs to raise
U BUILDING page 2 ^
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PULITZER
Three actors reflect
on award-winning
playwriter's life
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SCENE
A look at the plays
and many
performances on
campus
PAGE 4 & 5
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